GCHQ Articles

A new document unearthed from the massive Snowden leak shows the National Security Agency and Government Communications Headquarters attacked Kaspersky security software in an attempt to counter anti-virus efforts.

With monitoring often the result of viruses uploaded into targeted systems (or through creating a virus-run network of infected computers), anti-virus software has been a real pain for spy agencies. One that has been especially targeted is security agency Kaspersky Lab.

Reports that the US and UK’s NSA and GCHQ organizations gained access to the encryption keys of SIM chip maker Gemalto has once again underlined the reach and global nature of modern government surveillance.

The manufacturer is a Dutch-French security firm that specializes in encrypted SIM cards meant to protect the privacy of mobile calls and data. Without the code to that encryption, users could be assured that their conversations were being kept secure.

Yahoo has struck out against Britain’s GCHQ after documents showed the platform’s webcam chat led to more than one and a half million images being illegally stored by the agency.

The data collection occurred between 2008 – 2012, as part of an operation known as Optic Nerve. An experimental program, the GCHQ hoped to create a facial recognition software to track targets online. In the process, it collected images from completely unrelated users in the US and UK, primarily citizens with no connection to terror activities.

In more news on the spying scandal, this time from the UK, the GCHQ allegedly attacked hackers associated with the loose hacker collective known as Anonymous, and the more organized group LulzSec in an attempt to take both down.

Taken from documents released by Edward Snowden, the allegations state that the British spy agency, which has come under fire for its invasive program running parallel to the US’s NSA, attempted to take both groups down.

But there was a kink in their plans. Not only did they illegally launch DDOS attacks against websites and chatrooms they believed to be hackers, but they ended up impacting the websites and communications of completely unrelated activists who were not engaged in unlawful online actions.

Since the story of how government agencies have been tracking information through major sources of technology came out, privacy has become a major issue on the web. While the entire world has been in a frenzy, the United States and United Kingdom, the two regions most affected, have been especially concerned. Most worrying is the regular mining of data, such as through the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ).

For those who are not from the UK, or just don’t know what it is, the GCHQ is the branch of government within Britain that is responsible for gathering intelligence for both the government and military projects. All of this is done through communication and information networks, a big one being the Internet itself.